2012 Turkey Trot & Other Thoughts...

This is me, post 2012 Turkey Trot 5 mile Race. Yes, I'm a smiling goofball. So happy to have crossed the finish line!

It was CRAZY with hills!! I thought I'd die from those hills! They felt more like mountains to this flatland Panhandle girl! I managed to run the race with 20,000+ other people and averaged about a 12 minute mile. I had to really push through those hills and ended up "power walking" most of the uphill portions. I crossed the finish line at 1:02. It's not fast by any means but it isn't too bad either.

It was a total adrenaline rush! I loved being in the middle of all these people striving for the same goal. So many people with varying skill levels and different walks of life coming together to complete a singular task, to cross a finish line. Such fun!





These guys here, ------------------------------------> were my running buddies. Ben (with the beard) is my bro-n-law and his friend Adam is the other guy. Adam left us in the dust and Ben finished about 10 minutes ahead of me. Also running were my sis-n-law Bliss, her hubby Minsok, and their 12 year old daughter Hanna. They are big marathon/triathlon people so they were probably done running, home and relaxing with a 2nd cup of coffee by the time I completed the 1st mile.

It was a beautiful day to run. The sun was shining and no wind, of course that's the norm for down there. I almost wasn't sure how to run with out having to brace against the wind. I was feeling the excitement of the mass gathering of people and had to really pay attention to my pace. I kept trying to run faster than normal because of all the hype.

Before we left for our trip down, my mom gave me a sweet little gift. This humming bird pin belonged to her mother, my grandmother. What made my mom give me this is that humming birds aren't known necessarily for their speed but, for their stamina.

Stamina is something I have worked really hard over the last 11 months to regain. After the December surgery that nearly killed me, my stamina was GONE. I would be exhausted just moving from one room to another. August through December 2011 really took a toll on me; it reduced my endurance and energy to nothing.

The very first thing I decided to do when my doctor released me in March of 2012 was to start running. It was very slow going. Very frustrating. Very tiring. For months, all I could do was walk. I walked half way down the block and back and needed a nap in the beginning. Eventually, I could walk a mile with out needing to collapse for the rest of the day.  When I ran for the first time in May it went like this: 5 minute warm-up walk,  30 second run, 90 second walk, 45 second run, 90 second walk... and so on until I gradually ran more than I walked over the course of 12 weeks. That's 3 months! Then in September I ran my first 5K or 3 miles, in a solid 38 minutes. I still smile when I remember this.

It's taken a lot of sweat, blood and tears to get to today. And I do mean SWEAT, BLOOD and TEARS! The sweat is a given because running is hard work--don't let anyone tell you different! The blood comes from a few crash and burns, one of which is most memorable as my knee is still sporting the scar. The tears came when I completed that 5K. I bawled like a baby as I crossed the finish line. It was almost 1 year to the day of my first surgery, my ileostomy.

December 9th will mark another major hurdle in my post-ostomy life. I will run, with my sweet running partner, in the White Rock 1/2 Marathon in Dallas. 13.1 miles!! December 13th will be the 1 year anniversary of the last surgery I almost didn't survive, the removal of my rectum. I can't think of a better way to remind myself of how far I've come and just how precious good health is. I find training for this 1/2 marathon isn't hard--I know that sounds crazy so let me explain-- The actual training is stinkin' hard but the motivation for it has been shockingly easy. I guess memories of laying in ICU and weeks spent in the hospital are still very fresh so, getting up and getting going is the easy part. It's the staying focused and not quitting when my body is screaming at me is the hard part.

Today I went to see my foot doctor because I'm having some arch pain--True Plantar Fasciitis is the diagnosis. Bummer but not a deal breaker for running. He sent me to get new shoes. I was scared to death that I'd end up in some butt-ugly orthopedic looking velcro runners. I am very pleased with my new (pricey) "Newtons". Look how cute they are too! They're way more stylish than my Brooks I was wearing! So my vanity survived a potential hit...

I'm looking forward to the 1/2 marathon in Dallas in a couple of weeks. I'll be sporting my new Newtons and my little humming bird pin. When my body starts revolting and threatening to quit before the 13.1 miles are up, I will look at my little humming bird and remember where I was just 1 year ago. Whether I run, walk or even crawl, I will cross that finish line.

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